{"id":18536,"date":"2016-02-05T13:59:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balticguide.ee\/?p=18536"},"modified":"2016-02-05T14:09:52","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T12:09:52","slug":"visit-otepaa-estonias-winter-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/visit-otepaa-estonias-winter-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Visit Otep\u00e4\u00e4, Estonia\u2019s Winter Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re coming to Estonia,<\/b><\/span> whether on holiday or a business trip, you might assume that, in the winter, it was better to stick to Tallinn and its cosy surroundings. However, the sheer majesty of a country that is bigger than Switzerland should convince you otherwise. One area of great beauty, which you can\u2019t afford to miss, is Otep\u00e4\u00e4 and its neighbouring village, P\u00fchaj\u00e4rve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Otep\u00e4\u00e4 is a picture-postcard little village with lovely walking routes all around, and a deep, dense forest in which to be lost with your thoughts. However the attention-grabbers for most tourists are <\/span>V\u00e4ike Munam\u00e4gi,<\/b><\/span> the second tallest hill in Estonia, and the tallest, <\/span>Suur Munam\u00e4gi. <\/b><\/span>They are located about an hour\u2019s drive south from Otep\u00e4\u00e4. Whether you\u2019re an experienced skier looking for some piste action in the Baltics, or a newbie wanting a hill that isn\u2019t the Black Run on which to learn your craft, there\u2019s a reason to visit the two Egg Hills, as they are known in English. And even if winter sports are not your thing, south Estonia\u2019s flatness means you can see for miles all around when you\u2019re at the top. If you want a bit of a challenge have a go at the <\/span>Kekkose Ski Trail <\/b><\/span>(a 14 km run named in honour of the visit, from the then Finnish president <\/span>Urho Kekkose\u2019s<\/b><\/span> visit to K\u00e4\u00e4riku to ski), one of the country\u2019s most challenging cross-country trails.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nestling in deepest South Estonia<\/b><\/span>, we recommend taking a car to this underrated holiday resort, although it\u2019s perfectly possible to go there by bus \u2013 just jump on the Tallinn to Tartu express, then take a connecting service to P\u00fchaj\u00e4rve. We stayed in the P\u00fchaj\u00e4rve Spa Hotel, a three-star destination which overlooks the enormous lake, which of course is completely frozen in winter, and, should you be there with kids, allows them to carry out their Queen Elsa fantasies to their heart\u2019s content. Do you wanna build a snowman? No problem \u2013 snow is one natural resource there is plenty of.<\/p>\n

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The spa\u2019s rooftop caf\u00e9<\/b><\/span> gives truly spectacular panoramic views of the lake, the hills and surrounds. Ensconced in your forest kingdom, you\u2019ll finally be able to forget all your daily working troubles. The food is pretty decent local fare, and certainly fills you up before or after a long day\u2019s strolling in the gorgeous countryside. There is a pub down below for simpler tastes and an a la carte restaurant on the main floor of the former manor house.<\/span><\/p>\n

The spa\u2019s jewel is the outstanding swimming pool designed by one of Estonia\u2019s master architects Andres Alver. The pools main structure is engineered wood glulam complemented with the use of locally produced birch plywood. Swimming there is certainly a must on any Estonian travel bucket list.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the swimming pool there are also saunas, including an infra-red sauna guaranteed to leave you feeling refreshed and detoxed. There is a considerable list of treatment options, including a chocolate spread that sounds tasty enough to eat while it\u2019s on your body. Beware the massage though \u2013 the standard package is a chiropractic massage, and had me wondering if the masseur would pull a joint out of its socket. By the end you\u2019re feeling great, but it wasn\u2019t my scented-candle vision of a massage on holiday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\"Screen<\/a>\n

How to get there:
\n<\/b><\/span>Kekkose Ski Trail
\n<\/b><\/span><\/a>(at K\u00e4\u00e4riku Leisure and Sports Centre)<\/a>
\n N\u00fcpli Village, Otep\u00e4\u00e4 Parish, Valgamaa<\/a>
\nwww.kaariku.com\/kekkoserada14km<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

P\u00fchaj\u00e4rve Spa Hotel<\/b><\/span><\/a>
\n P\u00fchaj\u00e4rve, Valgamaa<\/a>
\nwww.pyhajarve.com<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

We recommend taking a car, although it\u2019s perfectly possible to go there by bus – just jump on the Tallinn to Tartu express, then take a connecting service to Otep\u00e4\u00e4. www.tpilet.ee<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

There are train connections from Tallinn-Tartu-Palupera. Palupera is about 20 km from Otep\u00e4\u00e4 and from there you can take a taxi which should be no more than \u20ac20. Please note: most taxis do not accept card payment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Train tickets: www.elron.ee<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Otep\u00e4\u00e4 Taxi: 1200<\/span><\/p>\n

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Click on the address to see the location.<\/p>\n

TEXT STUART GARLICK, KRISTINA LUPP, PHOTOS ANDREI CHERTKOV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re coming to Estonia, whether on holiday or a business trip, you might assume that, in the winter, it … Read more<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[44,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leisure","category-nature"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}